I went into yoga last night with an ache on the inside of my right ankle, and once again, yoga delivered, as I left class feeling no pain. However, as the evening went on during the next few hours, I started noticing it coming back - but at least it wasn't as bad as it had been prior. It did get me to thinking - what was it about yoga that made it feel perfectly fine right after class, but not be permanent? Then it occurred to me - I remember reading something several years ago that indicated that endorphins are power anti-inflammatories, and that they are actually much stronger than synthetics (NSAID's like aspirin or ibuprofin). Perhaps that is why I've been finding yoga so helpful for injuries - if it causes a rush of endorphins, it may be attacking inflammation that would otherwise turn into injuries before it can really snowball out of control. Who knows - but it's the best explanation I've come up with so far. All I know is that yoga works for me, and while I don't necessarily care as much why, I still can't help but to try to figure it out.
Anyhow, today I was debating again whether to do the full 6 miles or not - but I opted to go ahead with it since my ankle had improved enough from the day before that I figured any setback would be relatively minor. As luck would have it, a coworker also had his running stuff with him today, so we ran this together. Although I was really looking forward to being able to concentrate on form and mechanics, I also recognize I spend a lot of time training in isolation, so it is really hard to me to pass up an opportunity to run/bike with someone else when the opportunity presents itself.
The run itself went pretty well. There were a few times when the crankle acted up a bit - but there were also a few times when it felt perfectly fine. So in the end, it seems to have been a relative wash. During the afternoon, I was able to isolate the spot of inflammation on the tendon - it is very similar to when the top of my right foot had an ache after the marathon.
I did try to focus on a few key form things, though - primarily keeping my upper body posture aligned, keeping the pelvis aligned and core muscles engaged, and really trying to relax the lower leg muscles. Keeping the shins relaxed started to feel a bit more natural, but I think there were a couple times when I slipped back into old habits. Part of this was due to conversation and distraction by having someone running with me, but it provided a good opportunity to practice refocusing after realizing I fell out of focus - a skill I think would be valuable in the latter stages of a race when fatigue set in. So, there's always a silver lining - at least, I always try to find one.
In the end, the avg HR of 152 was a bit higher than I'd like, and the pace of 8:20 min/mil was a bit faster than I'd typically like - but at this point I'm less concerned about following strict paces and more concerned about imprinting how the mechanics of running should feel within the body. Besides, tomorrow I'll run the same loop and I'll likely run it alone. Plenty of opportunity to practice.
No comments:
Post a Comment